Walt Disney World Day One

Since it would be a super long post to write about the whole trip in one post, I am going to just break it down day by day.

We had a great opportunity to take a super fun family vacation this year.  We knew we had enough points to fly the whole family for free so we decided we would go to some place we have never been before.  And yes I said we flew the whole family for FREE.  That's one of the perks of Mike traveling every week for the last 3 years.

So on Sunday March 27th, we piled into the Suburban and headed to the airport.  Everyone was sooooooo excited for a whole week of Disney World.  We boarded the plane and the kids did great for the 3.5 hour flight.  We arrived in Orlando at 11 pm, retrieved our luggage, and met our taxi for the ride to the grocery store then on to the hotel.  I did a marathon shopping trip as we were being charged by the minute for the stop and picked up enough food for breakfast and lunch every day as well as daily snacks. 

We got a great deal to stay at the Downtown Disney Holiday Inn (another perk of Mike's travels).  We had two rooms connecting, it was perfect.  We settled the kids in to bed as quickly as possible so we could get a good night sleep to be ready for our first day in the parks.  The nice thing about staying at the Downtown Disney Hotel is that we were part of the Disney transportation line.  There were pick ups from our hotel every half hour all day long and rides back to the hotel every half hour too from every one of the parks.  It was really a nice feature.

Our first day was Epcot.
It rained
and it rained
and it rained. 
THE WHOLE TIME WE WERE THERE!!! 
We were grateful for our ponchos and for so many indoor attractions.  We rode all of the rides and saw a couple of shows but by about 7 pm we were so done with the rain we decided to head back to the hotel.  Thus we missed the big night show and didn't spend much time at all in the world showcase.  We would have loved to explore the country pavillions more, but we were all too wet and getting grumpy.

Here is what we did at Epcot:
-We rode Test Track is was awesome!!!!  I would have loved to do that one again, but it closed down after we rode it because of the rain.
-Next was Mission Space which we rode twice.  It was really fun too.
-We rode Ellen's Energy Adventure.  It was different, but the kids liked this one too.
-Next was Spaceship Earth.
-Then we headed back to the lockers and had lunch on the floor in the locker room.  It was great because it was dry and out of the wind.
-Next we headed to the Lands section of the park and rode Living With The Land.
-Then we saw the Circle Of Life show
-Then it was over to the Seas for Nemo and Friends and the aquarium
-Next we saw Michael Jackson in Captain EO
-Then we headed to Journey Into Imagination With Figment and Image Works
-Next we walked very quickly through the World Showcase.  We watched a film in France.  Kyle slept through the whole thing.
-We headed back over to the Land and rode Living with the Land again while we were waiting for our fastpass time to come up so we could ride Soarin'.  Living With the Land was a pretty cool ride.  It was fun to see some of the innovative ways they are growing things.
-Finally it was time for us to ride Soarin'.  One of my favorite rides.  It was awesome.  I wish we could have gone on it again.
-We finished off the day with dinner at Seasons, then headed out to stand in the rain to wait for our bus.
-Back at the hotel, Mike and the kids hit the hot tub, and then it was time for bed.  I planned out our schedule for the next day and hit the pillow for a great night of sleep.

Despite the rain, we managed to have a great day!!!!  I didn't get many pictures because of all the rain, but here are a couple from Monday.

My Trip to Las Vegas

A little over a week ago, I got a phone call from Mike.  It was about 2:00 pm on  Friday March 4th afternoon.  He said "Do you want to go to Vegas this weekend for Hailey's blessing?"  I was shocked but of course I said "YES!".  Hailey is my baby brother Jeff's brand new baby girl.  I hadn't had the chance to see her other than in pictures and was so excited to get to go for the blessing.

It made for a crazy busy night though.  My flight was scheduled to leave at 8 am on Saturday morning and we had Ryan's birthday party with his friends scheduled for Friday night.  So I rushed around and got all my responsibilities for church on Sunday covered, did some laundry, packed and took care of Ryan's party.

I got up bright and early, before the sun actually, and headed to the airport in Denver.  I boarded the plane and was on my way.  I hadn't even told Jeff  and Erika I was coming.  I had talked to Steve who started working on some plans for all of us to get together for Saturday night.  (he did this carefully so as to not let Jeff know I would be there) and I talked to Kevin who offered to let me stay at his place and pick me up from the airport.  I was so excited.

My plan was to just show up on Jeff's doorstep to surprise him, but since he lives all the way across town and I didn't want to show up and him not be there, I decided to let him know I was there.  I texted him and asked what he was doing, he said not much and asked what I was doing.  I said "not much" and in the next text said "just sitting and visiting with Kevin and Cassie and the boys".  He said "You're in Vegas?"  and I said "yes."  He said it made him tearful to know I was there, and that made me so happy.  I know he was happy and excited I was able to make the trip. It wasn't long before he and Erika and my sweet little niece were over there too.  She is so beautiful and perfect and I hogged her as much as I could.

The next morning we all went to church.  It was so nice to have all of my brothers and their wives as well as my dad and his wife there.  It has been a long time since we were all in church together (except for all the funerals in the last few years).  Jeff pronounced a beautiful blessing on Hailey and christened her HAILEY SHIRLENE PIERCE.  They named her after mom.  That's very fitting since she is the first baby girl born since mom's passing (not to mention the first baby girl with the last name Pierce in our family in over 25 years)  Anyway, I know that mom was looking down on us that day, she was with us in spirit and was so proud of Jeff for being able to bless his baby girl, and she was probably beaming knowing that all her boys were in church.  I am sure she would like to see them there more often.

After church a few of us went back to Jeff and Erika's house for some lunch.  We had a great visit. It was a beautiful day.  I took some time to take a few photos of Hailey in her blessing dress.  Here they are.

 She is such a cutey and such a good baby.  Jeff and Erika are so lucky.  She has red hair and I can't help but wonder what color her eyes will be.

Well I visited with Steve and Bree, and Kevin and Cass and all the boys a bit more and then it was time to head back home.  It was a really quick two day trip, over one day and back the next, but it was so worth it to see the smile on Jeff's face when he saw that I really was there.

Many thanks to my wonderful husband for making it possible, and to his work travel that made the trip virtually free.

Cub Scout Advancements

Last night was a big night for 2 of my boys.  It was our pack meeting and both boys have been working very hard to make their rank advancements.  First was Jacob.  He earned his Wolf Badge as well as one gold arrowpoint and 4 silver arrowpoints.  Here are some photos.

Ryan has been working very hard.  He earned 2 Webelos Badges, (Citizen, Showman, and Scientist), his Outdoor Activity Badge, his Compass Points Emblem and all of the Compass Point pins, his Webelos Badge, the Special 20 Award, his religious emblem (the square knot), and his Arrow of Light.  I am so proud of him for working so hard and going the extra mile, doing more than was necessary to advance.

Way to go boys I am soooooo proud!!!!

My oldest boy is turning 11

It's so hard to believe that Ryan is 11 years old today.  Where has the time gone?  It seems like just yesterday that they laid this little boy on my chest.  Here is what he looked like just minutes after being born.

Here is another when he was just a few days old.

He has grown and changed so much and I am very proud of the young man he is becoming.

The last few months he has been working very hard to finish his Webelos.  He decided to not just finish with the minimum required to get his webelos rank, but to complete ALL 20 of the webelos badges.  I am so happy to say that he accomplished his goal.  Many thanks to his scout leaders that helped him along the way, but he has worked very hard.  This Thursday at the Blue and Gold Banquet he will not only advance his rank, but he will earn all the compass points, his square knot (religious award), and his Arrow of Light.  I am so proud of him.  I will post some pics from that event later this week.

Well, here is a couple of pictures of my boy today on his birthday!  I am so proud to call him my son!  Happy Birthday Ryan!

To see how RYan has changed through the years, go to my facebook profile here for a whole bunch of pictures of him from birth to present.

Ryan's Wrestling Tournament

Last Weekend Ryan participated in his first wrestling tournament.  We are still trying to figure out if wrestling is something he is really interested in so I was glad it was a tournament that I didn't have to get him all the gear to participate in.

I am not sure if he really knew what to expect as he went in to his first match.  He was pinned rather quickly.  His second match however, he fought pretty hard and he pinned his opponent.  He knew going in to his 3 match that it was going to be a tough one. (he was going against the guy who hadn't lost yet that day).  He went in with a good attitude and fought hard.  He held on through almost all 3 periods.  His opponent was ahead by points, but Ryan was fighting hard to avoid the pin.  He was getting very tired and was finally pinned just before the end of the 3 period.  He ended up getting a third place metal for thte tournament and We were very proud of him for trying his best. 

I think he could have beat the first guy if he had one of his coaches with him, (but they were all occupied with other kids when it was Ryan's turn) and if he would have known a bit more what to expect.  I think he will do well in the future if he decides to continue with wrestling.  As for this tournament, it was all about getting some experience and deciding if he likes it enough to stick with it.  If he wrestles next year we will get him proper gear.

Here are a couple of photos of him.

Go COUGARS!!!!!!!

So in our family we are HUGE BYU COUGARS fans.  Perhaps because Mike and I both attended BYU and have a tremendous love for the school itself.  Perhaps because all of our children have expressed an interest to attend there.  Perhaps because of what the school stands for.  Perhaps it is because they do have good sports teams.  Whatever the reason we LOVE BYU.  I especially love BYU basketball!!!

We knew we would be attending the BYU vs. CSU game as soon as we saw the schedule.  We managed to buy our tickets just in time as it was  a sold out croud for the first time since 2005.  That's amazing since the stadium only holds a little over 8000 fans.  That seems so small when compared to the 23000 the Marriott Center holds and sells out regularly.

This has been a great year for BYU basketball.  Jimmer Fredette is the leading scoreer in the NCAA and he is backed up by an outstanding team of starters and bench players.  The team is ranked #9 in the NCAA and #2 in the Mountain West Conference. (only outdone in the MWC by SDSU ranked #6 and undefeated)  BYU lost one game this season to UCLA which was a bummer, but we are hoping they can hold the losses to that one.  A win over SDSU this next week would be awesome, but is going to be tough.

Anyway this past Saturday we took the whole family up to Ft. Collins to watch our amazing Cougars play against the Rams.  Sorry Rams the Cougars will always have my heart.   Kyle was so cute before the game, he was so excited for it to start he was practically shaking!  He kept saying "when is it going to start, I can't wait!"  Of course Mike and I were also quite anxious.  We knew it would be a good game with two fairly evenly matched teams and we were a little nervous about how it would go.  It was a great game.  The Rams played them well, but the Cougars were on top the whole game.  Jimmer had an amazing 42 points.  Other players had great games too and it was so much fun to watch this team play LIVE!!!  They won 94-85 keeping alive a 9 game winning streak!  I have to admit there for a little bit in the second half I was a little nervous about whether they would hold on to their lead.  Thank goodness they did!!!!

  Afterwards we wated around to see if we could meet some of the players.  Freshman, Kyle Collinsworth came back into the stadium to do an interview.  I overheard them talking to him about the mission he is planning after this season for the church.  It is so great to see these players that are willing to sacrifice those 2 years of playing sports to go on missions for the church.  I think that in many cases they are blessed for that sacrifice once they return.  The girls had their picture taken with Kyle and the boys all got his autograph.

We waited even longer, then the coach came in and said the players were heading to the bus, so we headed outside to wait in the cold.  The wait paid off as we were able to meet several of the players.

Jackson Emery just broke the BYU record set by Danny Ainge in the 80's for steals.  He is an awesome defender and his 3 point shots are usually dead on!!!



Charles Abouo comes off the bench and plays a great game. 



Jimmer signing Jacob's shirt



Jimmer signing Kyle's shirt





Jimmer signing Ryan's shirt

Jimmer with our whole family.  It was so cool to be able to meet him.

The kids and I with Brandon Davies.  Look at that smile!!

Kaylee and KEnsie were able to snag Jimmer right after he finished his media interview before leaving the court.  Look how kaylee is snuggling into him.  She says she is in love!!  hah hah  :)

What a great night.  I hope the kids will remember this one forever!!!!